Improvement in cartridges



J. C. MAYBERRY.

Cartridge.

No. 35,699. Patented June 24, 1862.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

J. O. MAYBERRY, OF WHITE ROCK, ILLINOIS.

IMPROVEMENT IN CARTRIDGES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 35,699, dated June 24, 1862.

To all whom 'itmay concern:

Be it known that I, J. O. MAYBERRY, of White Rock, in the county of Ogle and State of Illinois, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Cartridges 5 and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being bad to the accdrppanying drawings, forming part of this specification, in which- Figure l is a central longitudinal section of a musket-cartridge with my improvement. Fig. 2 is an external perspective view of the same. Fig. 3 is an outer face view of the loose bottom. Fig. 4 is a central section of the'loose' bottom, in the condition it assumes in loading.

Similar letters of reference indicate correspondin g parts in the several figures.

The object of this invention isto obviate the necessity of biting or tearing the cartridge before its insertion into the gun, and prevent the waste of powder, which is almost unavoidable in opening the cartridge before loading; and to this end the invention consists in fittin g the cartridge with a loose bottom, which is driven into the body by the act of ramming the cartridge down upon or against the breech of the gun, and so caused to contract circumferentiall y and allow the loose powder to escape and come in contact with the breech and in sure its ignition.

To enable others to construct cartridges ac cording to my invention, I will proceed to describe it with reference to the drawings.

A is the body of the cartridge-case, consisting of a tube of paper or other material Without a bottom, but having its lower edge turned inward all round, as shown at a a, to serve as a support for the loose bottom B. This tube should be stiff enough to retain its shape without the support of the bottom. The loose bottom B is composed of a piece of paper of sufficient thickness and stiffness to support the powder, of circular form, and rather larger than the interior of the tube A, but is cut at equal distances all round in lines radial to its center, or tangential to a small concentric circle, as shown at b b, to enable it to be sufficiently contracted in circumference to fit the interior of the tube A, by theoverlapping of the edges of the cuts b I). To the center of this bottom there is attached, by gluing or other means, a peg, d, of wood or other material, projecting about one-quarter or threeeighths of an inch from its under or outer side. This loose bottom is inserted in the case from the upper end, and pushed down to the rim a, before inserting the powder 0 and ball D, and secured in place by the powder and ball, the latter being inserted after the powder, and secured by tying or other means. In loading the gun this cartridge is inserted at the muzzle, without any previous preparation, and rammed down to the breech, and on coming in contact with the peg d is arrested, and the continued ramming causes the peg to force the loose bottom into the tube A, by which action the center of the loose bottom B is also forced into the said tube, and the pressure of the powder upon it causes the lapping edges of the cuts 12 b to pass over each other, and causes the said bottom to assume a conical form, as shown in Fig. 4, by which means its outer edge is drawn inward toward the central peg, and the powderis caused to escape around the outer edge, between the said edge and the rim a, and fall out loose into the bottom of the chamber of the gun, where it will not fail to be ignited by the fire from the priming. To prevent the cartridges from being opened by the pegs of the loose bottoms striking the bottom of the cartridge-box, the cavities provided in the cartridge-box for the separate cartridges should have small holes in their bottoms for the reception of the pegs.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-- r The construction of the cartridge with a loose oontractible bottom, B, and a central peg, d, or its equivalent, applied and operating substantially as and for the purpose herein specified.

JAS. O. MAYBERRY. Witnesses:

JOHN Ron, M. O. ROE. 

